Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Does
English Grammar Rules
To make a question in English we normally use Do or Does. It is normally put at the beginning
of the question (before the subject).
Affirmative: You speak Spanish.
Question: Do you speak Spanish?
You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question.
We use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.
Affirmative: He speaks Spanish.
Question: Does he speak Spanish?
When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative
sentence a question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence
(because it is in third person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.
We DON'T use Do or Does in questions that have the verb To Be or Modal Verbs (can, must,
might, should etc.)
Subject
Verb*
Do
I / you / we / they
Does
he / she / it
have / buy
eat / like etc.
*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO
before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.
Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is conjugated (changed) and it begins
with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to speak etc.
In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:
Sample Questions
Short Answer
(Affirmative)
Short Answer
(Negative)
Yes, I do.
No, I don't.
Do I need a dictionary?
Yes, we do.
No, we don't.
Yes, he does.
No, he doesn't.
Yes, it does.
No, it doesn't.
However, if a question word such as who, when, where, why, which or how is used in the
question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.
Do/Does
Subject
Verb
What
do
you
What
does
she
Where
do
you
live?
When
do
you
study?
How
do
you
Next activities
Try our interactive game to practice Do and Does in Questions.
See our notes about the difference between Do, Does, Did and Done.
NEW: Download our free Do vs Does Worksheet (in PDF).
You can check the answers to this worksheet here: Do vs Does Answers.